Overtale: The Next Chapter
by EpsilonEagle
Summary: Having finally released the monsters from the Underground and even finding a way to restore Asriel to his true form, Frisk moves to the surface with the monsters. However, this is not the end of the story, but the beginning of the next chapter as Frisk and his friends try to balance adjusting to the new world while dealing with various, bizarre threats and misadventures.
1. Chapter 1

[NOTE: This Undertale fan fiction will be a more traditional story involving various adventures the characters have on the surface. There are a few things that I want to make note of before I begin. First and foremost, both Frisk and Chara are portrayed in this story as male, like in most of my other stories. I'll update the story as much as I can without rushing it and every three chapters I'll have a short chapter devoted to Q&As so you could understand a little more about the characters and the world, provided that questions are provided. Enjoy!]

It was the final battle, the fate of the world rested in the hands of the human child Frisk. If he succeeded, monsters would once again occupy the surface and the world would be saved. If he failed, Asriel would take his soul and determination and become the planet's god, allowing him to do with the world whatever he saw fit. Frisk had been to this point many times before, he had succeeded every time, but his achievements were always nullified by a reset. A reset he had no control over.

Reset after reset, Frisk would watch every achievement he made crumble into nothingness and he would be forced to start all over again. He would have to reintroduce himself to his friends, he would have to save them all again, and the few who knew about his powers would blame him for each time the world was set back to the beginning, back to the moment Frisk fell into the Underground. This time however, Frisk was certain he would succeed.

"Hahaha! Come on Chara! Let's see you dodge this!" Asriel mocked as he lifted his giant, clawed hands in the air and launched a massive barrage of lasers from all angles. Frisk always hated it when Asriel mistook him for Chara, he knew little about the human other than the damage he had done to the Underground and the fact that he was once Asriel's friend, who he betrayed. As Asriel launched the beams of multi-colored light Frisk tried to dodge the attack, but several of the lasers grazed him and he started to bleed from his shoulder and side. Wincing in pain, the brown haired mestizo boy grasped his shoulder as red blood began to stain his blue and pink striped sweater and denim shorts. Asriel laughed at the sight.

"Golly! Looks like someone's getting sloppy! You'll have to try better than that if you hope to win Chara!" Asriel, the enormous goat-like demonic creature with iridescent wings said as he prepared for another volley of lasers to be launched at Frisk. Frisk stood ready to dodge again, but the lasers were faster this time. Frisk managed to weave his way around the attack and dodge each of the lasers until the last one struck him directly in the abdomen, knocking him to the ground and badly injuring him. Struggling to get back to his feet, Frisk noticed his sweater was torn and there was a large burn mark and bruise on his belly. Unable to continue fighting, Frisk collapsed to the ground once again. He tried to reach for his save file with his powers, but he was too weak and unable to reach it.

"Hahaha! I've got you now! Giving up already?" Asriel said as he flew towards the injured Frisk, who was unable to save his game. Frisk looked at Asriel and wiped some blood from his lip. Realizing that saving or loading the game was impossible, Frisk decided to use his remaining power to save the monsters Asriel had absorbed instead. Frisk had done this before in other timelines, but this time he had an idea. Frisk believed that this time he would be able to save Asriel as well and truly empty the Underground once and for all. Frisk slowly got to his feet, his knees shaking in weakness as he waited for Asriel to approach.

"Hey, just what are you planning?" Asriel asked suspiciously as he was about to try and finish Frisk with a blast of energy from his hand. Just as Asriel was about to land the finishing blow, Frisk's soul left his body and entered into Asriel's chest.

"Agh! What are you doing you little parasite!?" Asriel said angrily as he felt Frisk's soul intrude into his own, cobbled together soul. Frisk used his soul to reach within the depths of the clustered, stolen soul of Asriel to find his friends. The first of his friends to be found was Undyne, her face blurred and unidentifiable while she was armed with a magical spear and ready for battle. As soon as Undyne noticed Frisk standing in front of her in the darkness of Asriel's soul, Undyne charged at him with all her might, ready to strike.

"All human must die!" Undyne yelled as she launched her attack at Frisk, thrusting her magical spears at him by the dozens. Frisk was prepared though and knew how to avoid her attacks from the previous battles he had with her, and he knew how to bring her back to her senses.

"Hey Undyne, can you tell me that recipe for pizza that involves destroying an entire kitchen?" Frisk asked as he dodged a glowing spear. Laughing Frisk charged forward and began to grapple with Undyne.

"So you want to play rough huh? I'm not pushover Undyne!" Frisk said just before Undyne managed to grasp him in a headlock.

"I have you now you little punk!" Undyne said, but as she did her face returned to normal and she returned to her senses, having remembered who she really was. When she noticed she was inadvertently strangling Frisk, she let go and allowed him to catch his breath.

"Oops, sorry about that punk." Undyne said as the two laughed together.

"Well, some humans are OK, I guess." Undyne said with a wide, fang filled smile as she returned to her old self.

"Undyne!" Frisk said happily.

"Hey punk! How's it going? And where the heck are we?" Undyne asked as she looked around the endless black void, Frisk laughed.

"That's a long story. I need you to do me a HUGE favor though, and I promise I'll make it up to you... I need a little piece of your soul, one sixth to be exact." Frisk asked, firmly but nervously as his request was a pretty significant one. Undyne was taken back by this.

"Whoa! That's pretty serious stuff kid!" Undyne began, Frisk was worried that she would decline, but she continued. "Okay, fine. I don't know what you need it for but you wouldn't of asked if it wasn't important, right? And I swear if you lose it or break it I'll body slam you!"

With that, Frisk's soul was able to collect the one sixth of Undyne's soul as she broke off the piece of monster soul and handed it to Frisk.

"I have no idea how I'm able to do this, must be something to do with this weird dimension place we're in." Undyne said as she handed the piece of soul to Frisk, who took it in his hand, the white piece of monster soul shimmering.

"Thank you Undyne! Trust me, it'll be worth it!" Frisk said as he left to go search for the next monster he needed to save. As Frisk searched through the inky black void of Asriel's stolen soul he came across Alphys, who was dressed in her black polka dot dress she wore in the past when she and Frisk were on a pretend date. Wallowing in her self loathing, Alphys lamented that everyone hated her, that she needed to keep lying in order to go on. Frisk awoke her with quizzes on useless information, talking about her interests and favorite anime and with words of encouragement. After this, Alphys' soul was awakened once more with the knowledge that her friends loved her.

"Alphys, I'll need a bit of your soul to help a monster who's very important to me. Can you help me?" Frisk asked, Alphys happily but reluctantly obliged, giving Frisk another sixth of a monster soul.

"S-Sure! It'll grow back eventually as long as it isn't destroyed c-completely." Alphys said as Frisk absorbed the part of Alphys' soul. Meanwhile, Asriel was feeling himself beginning to lose power, and in panic he began grabbing his own soul in an attempt to force Frisk's soul out of him.

"Get out of there you little bastard! Stop, damn you, STOP!" Asriel yelled in desperation as he grasped at his own soul. Frisk continued his search through Asriel's soul, liberating the monsters who he had captured and in turn taking a piece of their soul, all of them complied. Asgore was reluctant, Toriel was confused as to what Frisk needed a piece of her soul for but trusted frisk none the less, and Papyrus happily gave his piece of soul away, not really thinking much about why Frisk needed it.

"NYEH-HEH-HEH! TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT HUMAN!" Papyrus said happily as the sixth of Papyrus' separated from him and landed in Frisk's hand where the other pieces were beginning to stick together, but had not yet become a functioning soul. After this, Frisk had looked over to the last monster, Sans the skeleton, who stood there lazily with a large frin on his face like usual.

"I guess you could now say you and kiddo here are... Soul brothers." Sans said to Papyrus with a wink, making Papyrus' eyes bulge with annoyance.

"SANS! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR LOUSY PUNS!" Papyrus complained, albeit with a smile, Sans simply laughed.

"Hey, don't get mad Papyrus. The kid's just doing a little 'soul searching', that's all." Sans joked once again, getting a loud, annoyed groan from Papyrus.

"THAT'S IT! I'M OUT OF HERE! NYEH!" Papyrus pouted as he stormed off in a huff.

"Don't stomp your feet Pap, you might wear out the 'souls' of your shoes!" Sans joked as Papyrus left, hearing him give one final groan in the distance. Once Papyrus was gone from sight and Sans and Frisk were alone in the black void, the short and stout skeleton closed his eyes and sighed, though still wearing his wide grin like he always does. With his hands in the pockets of his blue hoodie, Sans was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Listen kid... I think I understand what's going on here..." Sans said. Frisk's head lowered apologetically before Sans continued to speak.

"I... suspected that flower boy might have been the prince once, having done my research and all... plus he and Asgore have that same way of speaking." Sans said frankly while Frisk stood and listened.

"I know you really care about that brat, even though he's made some pretty stupid decisions in the past. Quite frankly, I have nothing against him personally, he's not a 'bad seed', I just don't want him to do any more wierd or evil stuff... Though given everything he's been through, and having no soul, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy." Sans said as he drew out his soul from the pocket of his hoodie, holding it as he presented it to Frisk, who gasped.

"If you REALLY think this is gonna work, that you can fix him for good... Then I'll give you the last piece you need to make his new soul. There's just one thing I want you to promise." Sans said seriously before closing his eyes and sighing once more.

"No more resets, OK? If you bring that kid back just to take everything away from him again... Well, I'd never forgive you for it. So just don't do it, alright? No matter how nostalgic you feel your time down here." Sans asked, opening his eyes slowly once more, his voice serious but not angry or threatening. Frisk could tell from his tone that he was close to giving up and was giving him one last chance to prove himself as the hero everyone thinks he is. Frisk nodded in response and smiled to Sans.

"...I promise. But I'll need your help too. I'll tell you more once we get to the surface." Frisk said happily, even though he didn't have full control of his powers, he knew with Sans' help he could find a way to stop the resets from happening. Sans laughed.

"Great, no crossed fingers or winks either, I'll hold you to it kid. Now hold out your hand and I'll give you the 'soul' remaining piece you need to set things straight." Sans said. Frisk held his hand out and Sans gave him his, followed by a loud farting sound.

"Whoops! That was my whoopie cushion!" Sans said to the horrified Frisk, who thought Sans had changed his mind about giving his piece of soul. "Ah come on, don't give me that look, I just had to get you that one last time. For real now, here you go."

With the final piece of monster soul which Sans had provided him, the six pieces of soul melded together and began one. Frisk looked in awe at the white, upside down heart shaped object as it pulsed with energy and shimmered like polished moonstone. Frisk watched as the soul pulsed in his hands before he finally placed it inside of the heart locked he had found and equipped while in the Underground, the white glow radiating from the locket which now contained Asriel's new soul. With that, Frisk finally left Asriel's false soul and returned to his physical body, still damaged but standing up and preparing to free the Underground once more.

The thought of finally moving forward filled Frisk with Determination.


	2. Chapter 2

[Sorry about the long wait everyone, here is the next chapter of Overtale for your enjoyment. I will be writing more chapters in the future as well, enjoy.]

Something hit Asriel like a freight train, the souls within him which he imprisoned in his god-like body had been awakened and he begun to lose control over them and become filled with something he hadn't known for a long time. Asriel floated in place quietly for a moment, trying to understand what was happening, afraid of what Frisk had done to him.

"Wh-What did you do? What's this feeling..? What's happening to me?" Asriel asked in confusion as he searched his own body for answers as he felt something strange and new yet familiar coursing through him. It felt alien, mysterious, and good. Rejecting this new feeling, Asriel shook shook his head with an angry growl.

"No! NO! I don't need anyone!" Asriel shouted as he pointed the palms of his enormous clawed hands forward and launched another barrage of energy bolts at Frisk. Frisk stood still and let the arrow-like bolt of light graze past his body, not hitting him directly. After doing this, Asriel felt strange once again, harming Frisk caused an unpleasant feeling that hurt him, even though the countless trillions of HP he had didn't even decrease by a fraction, he couldn't understand it. After Asriel's attack had failed, Frisk began to slowly approach the colossal monster without an ounce of fear in his heart. Instead, it was Asriel who panicked in frustration and confusion as he began to attack once again with another barrage of energy bolts.

"STOP IT! GET AWAY FROM ME! Do you hear me!? I'll tear you apart!" Asriel yelled in rage and fear as he attacked once again, but his attack was much slower and much more inaccurate than before, the magical attacks seemingly avoiding Frisk as if Asriel was subconsciously missing his target on purpose. Frisk approached Asriel slowly until eventually he stopped in from of him and looked up at the colossal, god-like monster with his usual deadpan expression.

"Asriel, it's over. Come on, let's go home." Frisk said plainly, looking up at Asriel. Asriel stared at Frisk in shock before igniting his first and attacking Frisk with a fiery punch.

"DIE!" Asriel screamed in rage as he punched at Frisk, ready to kill him in a single blow. Frisk stood perfectly still and simply looked at Asriel while Asriel's attacked stopped a mere inch from his face.

"You look tired Asriel, you must be so sick of this old game..." Frisk said calmly, enraging Asriel who attacked once again with his other fist only to find himself subconsciously stopping his attack before it harmed him. No matter how hard he tried, Asriel couldn't bring himself to kill Frisk, and it frightened him. Asriel flew backwards away from Frisk as he shook his head, grasping his forehead as if it was about to crack open.

"Chara..." Asriel said softly. "Do you know why I keep doing this? Why I keep fighting to keep you around...?"

Frisk did not respond, he simply listened to what the misguided monster had to say.

"I'm doing this... because you're special, Chara. You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore." Asriel said sadly, beginning to remember a time long ago, when he was still an innocent monster child of little strength and Chara was still a loving, albeit deeply troubled human being. Asriel remembered how the adults saw him only as a prince and a symbol of hope, but not as a person. Asriel hated being the pillar for which the entire monster kingdom's future stood. He also remembered how the other children used to pretend to be his friend because their parents told them to, because he was royalty, but actually saw him as a weakling and secretly hated him. He thought back to a time when he discovered this long ago.

"Howdy-do folks! I'm Asriel! Aww shucks, ya'll wanna buy a flower? They're reeeal purdy!" A monster kid with a single eye and blue and green striped skin said, imitating and exaggerating Asriel's Mississippi accent and making green, lizard-like colleague laugh with a hiss. Both monster children previously pretended to be Asriel's friends, but secretly didn't like him.

"Asriel? More like Spaz-riel! What a dork!" The green lizard monster mocked with a laugh.

"It must be nice when you're dad's the king, then nobody's allowed to make fun of you for being a total wuss!" The cycloptic monster laughed as the two walked away down the path of Waterfall, unaware that Asriel was nearby, listening to them from behind some grass while he looked for swamp flowers to pick for one of their birthdays. Asriel's heart sunk by the revelation, he dropped the flowers he picked up and ran away, sitting down in the rain elsewhere as he started to cry.

Asriel then remembered when he first met Chara. Chara was not like the others, Chara didn't pretend to be his friend, he actually was the closest and most loyal friend he ever had, even if Chara had a reputation as a dishonest troublemaker who pestered the other monsters. Chara would often make fun of Asriel or call him out when he acted immature or weak, but he was always forward with him, if not blunt. Chara had a terrible life on the surface, he never elaborated much on it and hated when the subject was brought up. Of all the time Asriel knew Chara all he had learned is that his father was both a very rich and powerful man, and a very ruthless one. As a result of this and other factors Chara never elaborated on he hated humanity with ever fiber of his being, he would often get angry at Asriel when he pressured Chara too much on the issue, and eventually Asriel dropped the subject all together.

Asriel thought back to a time when they were in Waterfall together, among the echo flowers. The two walked along the path when they saw a crystal drop from the ceiling high above while they were looking at New Home and Asgore's castle in the distance.

"Golly! Would you look at that! It just came right off!" Asriel said excitedly.

"Hmph, I sure hope there wasn't anyone standing under it." Chara said with a smirk.

"God you're dark..." Asriel responded, which got a laugh from Chara.

"You know, back on the surface they say if you make a wish to a falling star, it might come true." Chara said to Asriel, who's eyes lit up as he smiled brightly and tried to think of something.

"Really!?" Asriel asked, Chara nodded his head.

"Maybe you should make a wish. Who knows? Maybe it'll come true." Chara said, he was mostly just humoring Asriel and didn't believe it such things himself though. Chara was a brown haired human child with pale skin, rosy cheeks, a sweet smile and blue eyes. He was wearing a green sweater with a single yellow stripe, brown shorts and shoes with buckles on them. Asriel at this time did not resemble the monster who Frisk fought now, he was a young goat-like monster who was only an inch taller than Chara who had white fur, lavender eyes, floppy ears, white, messy hair with a prominent cowlick, a pair of small canines that protruded from his upper lip and a short, fluffy tail. By sheer coincidence he wore a similar attire to his friend Chara, consisting of a green sweater with multiple yellow stripes and brown pants. Asriel stood there stroking his chin in deep thought, trying to think of the best possible wish to make.

"...hmm... If I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?" Asriel asked as he rubbed his furry chin, Chara nodded with a smile.

"Of course I won't laugh!" Chara said with a laugh of course. Asriel paused for a moment and sighed before he spoke, feeling a little embarrassed about his best possible wish.

"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around... That's my wish." Asriel said with a smile, imagining what the world above would look like, hoping it would be as beautiful as he imagined. Suddenly, Asriel heard Chara laughing and Asriel turned to him, crossing his arms and pouting. "...Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"

Chara stopped laughing but continued to smile, wiping away some tears which surprised Asriel.

"Sorry, it's just funny... That's my wish, too." Chara said. Asriel was a little confused, but he smirked a little and looked at Chara mischievously.

"Oh, you laughed so hard you cried, huh? And you call ME the crybaby! I was going to let you have a really nice birthday gift but now I'm not sure." Asriel teased. Chara looked at him with a puzzled expression, tilting his head a little as if Asriel said something strange.

"A... gift?" Chara asked. "I've never received a gift before..."

Asriel rolled his eyes after hearing this.

"Don't tell me humans don't celebrate birthdays on the surface? Geez, no wonder you're so grouchy!" Asriel said as he rummaged through his pockets for his gift. "Okay, close your eyes and stand still and I'll give it to you, got it?"

Chara complied, closing his eyes and waiting as he felt the fluffy hands of his friend put something around his neck.

"Okay, you can open them." Asriel said happily as he waited for Chara's approval, leaning forward with his hands behind his back. Chara opened his eyes and looked down to see a golden heart locket resting on his chest. Chara quietly held it in his hands and looked at it, opening it and seeing a picture of himself and Asriel from when Chara, shortly after he had first came to the Underground. Asriel was smiling happily and holding a bouquet of yellow flowers while the shy Chara was hiding his face behind a bouquet he held as well. The legs of Toriel and Asgore were in the background, towering over the two young children who were only 7 years old at the time. Written on the inside of the lid were the words "Best Friends Forever.". Chara looked at the gift silently.

"What do you think pal?" Asriel asked Chara happily with a hint of excitement in his voice, but frowned when Chara didn't answer immediately, worried Chara would disapprove of the gift. "Gosh, it isn't... lame, is it?"

"It's wonderful... Thank you Asriel. I will cherish it, always." Chara said calmly with a smile as he brought Asriel into a tight hug.

"Happy birthday bro." Asriel said with a smile. Their good times wouldn't last however, eventually, the tragedy of a failed plan and Chara's inability to let go of his grudge against humans lead to the two of them dying, Asriel being reduced to Flowey, and Chara into something even more terrible. In the present the self proclaimed "God of Hyperdeath", now a far cry from the innocent and sweet Asriel of the past, looked at Frisk, projecting his own mental image of Chara on the separate child who came to the Underground over 20 years later. Asriel began to speak again, his voice low and pained.

"...No... That's not just it... I... I... I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! i care about you more than anybody else!" Asriel said as blue energy began to accumulate in both of his hands, growing with each second. Tears began to stream down Asriel's cheeks.

"I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave. I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again... So, please... STOP doing this... AND JUST LET ME WIN!" Asriel screamed loudly as he charged a massive beam of magical energy in his hands and launched it directly at Frisk. Frisk did nothing other than stand there as the enormous, blue beam of light blasted him with the force of an nuclear bomb, surrounding every inch of him in atomic fire. The whole mountain shook from the impact and the cave they were in seemed as though it would collapse. Frisk's HP was drained, it divided into impossibly small fractions but in the end never reached zero, he continued to hold onto hope no matter what, and his body did not burn from the attack.

"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!" Asriel screamed as he put every ounce of his power into the blast which did not phase the immovable human being. Eventually, Asriel couldn't continue his attack as he had expended every bit of his magical power performing that one final attack, and soon he felt himself begin to lose power, and his monstrous form began to crumble apart. Asriel started to cry knowing he had been defeated, falling to the ground and propping himself up with his elbows, looking at Frisk standing before him, unharmed.

"... Chara... I'm so alone, Chara... I'm so afraid, Chara... Chara, I..." Asriel said as white, glowing fissures began to appear on his body. After a moment, Asriel, the God of Hyperdeath exploded in a blinding white light, and what remained was the real form of Asriel. Asriel, as a child monster again, stood there in the dark, sobbing into the sleeve of his baggy green sweater, overcome with long lost feelings of longing and sadness.

"I'm so sorry. I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara?" Asriel said with a sad smile, wiping away the last of his tears. Frisk chuckled a bit and looked at Asriel.

"...I know. You're not actually Chara, are you? Chara's been gone for a long time." Asriel said with a hint of sadness in his voice, truly longing for his long lost friend. Turning his head away from Frisk for a moment before looking back to him.

"Um... What... What IS your name?" Asriel asked, wanting to know the identity of the mysterious human he mistook for Chara for so long. Frisk, as always, was reluctant to answer his question, turning his head slightly away before shyly answering.

"Frisk... My name is Frisk." Frisk said humbly, it wasn't his full name obviously, but it was the nickname he most preferred to be called.

"Frisk? That's... a nice name." Asriel complimented, smiling as fresh tears began to stream down his cheeks. Frisk laughed a little though still kept his normal facial expression, his nickname was ironically not nice, it was given to him by colleagues on the surface, during a time when he was a much less nice person.

"Frisk... I haven't felt like this for a long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. However, with everyone's souls inside me... I not only have my own compassion back... But I can feel every other monster's as well." Asriel said, placing his hand on his chest where he felt the souls of every monster beating inside of him.

"They all care about each other so much. And... They care about you too, Frisk... I wish I could tell you how everyone feels about you. Papyrus... Sans... Undyne... Alphys... Toriel... Monsters are weird. Even though they barely know you... It feels like they all really love you. Haha." Asriel said with a laugh and a wide smile on his face, wiping his tears away once more. Asriel lowered his head shamefully though and sighed.

"Frisk... I... I understand if you can't forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible. I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders... There's no excuse for what I've done."

Frisk shook his head however and grumbled a bit.

"Quit it. I forgive you Asriel." Frisk said to Asriel with a tone of slight annoyance. Asriel was truly surprised by this.

"Wh... What?..." Asriel asked in surprise.

"You're not Flower, you're Asriel..." Frisk said in response. Asriel laughed happily and seemed as if he was about to cry again.

"Frisk, come on... You're... You're gonna make me cry again... Besides, even if you do forgive me. I can't keep these souls inside of me. The least I can do is return them." Asriel said, looking at his chest where the souls were kept. With a look of determination, Asriel looked to Frisk.

"But first... There's something I have to do. Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts beating as one. They're all burning with the same desire. With everyone's power... With everyone's determination... It's time for monsters... to finally go free." Asriel as he floated in the air, raising his hands. As he did this, the souls of every monster in the Underground as well as the souls of six humans who were kept in the Underground by his father flew out of him and spun around like a maelstrom, their determination piercing and weakening the magic barrier which sealed the monsters beneath Mount Ebott for a thousand years finally gave way, shattering like glass and disappearing forever. After this happened and the souls returned to their owners, Asriel landed on the ground once more, feeling weakened and slowly fading once again. He looked to Frisk once more and spoke.

"Frisk... I have to go now. Without the power of everyone's souls... I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while... I'll turn back into a flower. I'll stop being 'myself'. I'll stop being able to feel love again. So, Frisk... It's best if you just forget about me, ok? Just go be with the people who love you." Asriel said to Frisk sadly, a small but fake smile on his face. Frisk did not want to see a person like Asriel disappear again into the darkness, he walked up to Asriel and hugged him tightly. No matter how many resets happened, Frisk never grew tired of that feeling. He held Asriel tight and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly as he felt Asriel tighten the embrace.

"Ha... Ha..." Asriel laughed a little, consumed by feelings of love and joy he had lost before and he wanted now to last forever. "I don't want to let go..."

"You don't have to." Frisk said. After a moment, he finally released Asriel, who's head was still hanging in guilt.

"Asriel... I have a gift for you." Frisk said as he took off the heart locket and handed it to Asriel. Asriel looked at it in surprise.

"The locket? I... I gave that to Chara for his birthday! I... I can't." Asriel said sadly, shaking his head and rejecting the gift.

"Open it up." Frisk insisted as he passed the locket to Asriel.

"Okay..." Asriel said reluctantly as he opened the locket. Inside was a white, glowing monster soul Frisk had created when he was within the stolen soul of Asriel. Asriel's eyes widened as he saw his very own soul in front of him. "Frisk... how?"

Frisk finally managed to smile for once and opened his green eyes a little wider.

"Happy birthday, Asriel." Frisk said happily. Asriel grabbed the soul and felt it absorb into his body. He was finally going to be free from the torment he had endured for 20 years, longer with resets taken into account. Asriel couldn't contain himself anymore, he leaped into Frisk's chest and nearly tackled him to the ground, embracing him as tightly as possible.

"Thank you! Frisk! I..." Asriel managed to say between sobs as Frisk hugged him back.

"The others are waiting Asriel, let's go home." Frisk said as he comforted the overjoyed monster.

Frisk had done it, he had finally figured out a way to save Asriel, and now he planned to move forward with his life, to find a way to stop the resets once and for all and to move on. Fate had been changed, and it filled Frisk with determination...

...It also filled someone else... with intuition...


End file.
